Surveillance authorities allowed to appoint paid informers

Our correspondent writes ...

Every day I try to tell myself it cannot possibly get any worse under New Labour. And it probably wouldn't if I didn't read newspapers or watch
television. I could be totally oblivious to the problems and turn a blind eye to the feedback we get on this website.

But I do watch the news and I do read The Daily Mail and I do read through the horrendous stories told by people who want
to expose the scandals and injustices they have witnessed in the hope that it will help others. So, believe me, it really does get worse by the
day!

The government like to blame the media for everything and regularly accuse them of blowing things out of all proportion. But the fact is that
if the media did not do its job properly we would be completely unaware of the devious lies and cover-ups that the government perpetuate.

The government are doing everything they can to turn us into a cowed nation. They want to control every aspect of our lives and they will go to
any lengths to do this. We know that every time we step outside our front doors and go into town, we are likely to be under surveillance. And some
people, like those in Ilkeston, are even under surveillance when they step into their back gardens - see the article about
Rayden Engineering. Surveillance is big business and the rights to spy are being granted to more and
more authorities, some of whom you wouldn't trust if your life depended on it.

The latest example is the powers given to local authorities to spy on fly-tippers and other suspected law-breakers. In the case of fly-tippers,
that's fine. These people deliberately despoil our environment and they should be caught and punished. But the vague references to 'other
law-breakers' could include all of us, one way or another, because the proliferation of new laws during New Labour's time in office is so high
that we may at some time be breaking some law without even knowing we are. Soon it must surely reach the stage where it would be easier to give us
a list of things we are allowed do on the basis that it would actually be a shorter list.

Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, local authorities can now appoint paid informers to snoop on us and any evidence
they obtain can be used in a criminal prosecution. In the last year they have already recruited almost a thousand such agents. So who are they?
How would we recognise them?

The answer is we wouldn't know who they were. If someone walks down your road and peeps into your house, it could be a paid agent. If someone
sits outside your house in a car for no apparent reason, he could be spying on you. The traffic warden you already despise could be doing more
than checking on your parking activities.

And yet the cretins in government think it is perfectly acceptable to do things like this. It takes the heat off them. They can continue to
treat their own positions as though they are above the law whilst treating everyone else like criminals!

Perhaps we should distinguish ourselves from Parliament by forming a new legislative authority. In addition to having Members of Parliament
(MPs) we would have Members of Public (MPs). If people in central or local government suspected Members of Public were not doing the
right things, the Members of Public could form Select Committees to investigate. Such committees could hand over fly-tippers , suspected
burglars, yobs, etc., and cover up for those who accidentally dropped a sweet paper or inadvertently fiddled a tax claim. Then the law would work
both ways and Members of Public could, for the first time ever, be assured that the laws which governed and restrained them might also be applied
to Members of Parliament.

With a little luck, Members of Public might even be able to identify the covert council snoopers and appoint them as double-agents, tasked to
watch out for irregularities and corruption in town halls and in Westminster.

Then the fur would fly!

Visitors' Comments

KE, Bristol writes:

Hello my friends. I'm just getting used to the internet's information highway at 58 years of age!
I agree whole-heartedly with all that I have read on your website. I am also doing some research into coloured people and violence/education: what
I have unearthed so far is totally at odds with government statements. White on black crime is virtually minimal when collated against black on
white crimes!
Education does not equate with guaranteed equality no matter how much they bend and slant the rules! The longest ever study - I believe it was
nearly 30 years - showed clearly that blacks/browns consistently mark results well below even the minimal average!! Keep up with your excellent
work.

Neil, Poole writes:

i was reported to the dwp by a neighbor yet when she has been reported for anti-social behaviour they
don't do nothing. she has a very intimidating
personality. those of us who exercise our dogs and give them
shelter have reported her for not exercising her dogs unless she gets a visit
from rspca then its only for a few days. she has a bird too.

Caroline Wilson, Motherwell writes:

I and my children are going through hell at present and all because my private landlord is married to one of the local registrars. I suffer a nervous debility and my landlord was refusing to fix the property after it got internally flooded even to reach the legal requirements. I went to authorities to enquire about what could be done about landlord. went a year trusting and believing what I was being told by housing support, environmental, even the police! Its a relief to know that there are people that are aware of these sick corrupt activities . They jail people for less!

"Many men stumble across the truth ... but most manage to pick themselves up and continue as if nothing had happened."